As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, many of us are wondering when things will get back to normal. When will life be normal again? When will business be normal again? What many people—business owners, workers, even politicians—are starting to realize is, the old normal may never come back. And that could actually be a good…
Menke Managing Director Phillip DeDominicis recently participated in a conversation with Chris Cooper, Program Coordinator of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) at Kent State University, to discuss the state of the ESOP industry in the COVID economy. In this discussion, Phil draws on his 30 years of investment banking experience to assess the realities…
This article is part of a series. For Part 1: Employee Incentive ESOPs, click here The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many owners to start thinking seriously about what their business would look like without them around to run it. Would it keep going? Would it be ready for another shutdown? The pandemic has presented the…
On June 23, 2020, as part of the annual Beyster Symposium held by the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Menke Group founder John Menke was honored with the Founding Supporter award in recognition of his decade of support for the Institute, its conferences, and the creation of an employee…
On a recent episode of LinkedIn’s This Is Working podcast, Mark Cuban had a straightforward suggestion for how to keep employees engaged, motivated, and committed as the economy starts to come back to life: “Give them stock in a meaningful way,” he said. “You’re going to need them to grow your company. We all are…
Written in collaboration with Hilary Abell, co-founder, Project Equity Black Lives Matter protests are currently continuing into their fourth week in cities and towns across America, shining a spotlight on the injustices of systemic racism. These protests have already had a positive impact, and if they can bring about a true reckoning with the violent…
At our October 2019 board meeting the younger board members expressed a desire to hear the story of why and how I chose to transition company ownership from me, a sole stockholder, to an “ESOP.” Here is my brief explanation. We started HPC in 1971 on a shoestring, with a used 40 ton molding press,…
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically shifted the economic landscape virtually overnight. The financial picture your business may have been looking at as of December 31, 2019 could be very different today. Many ESOP-owned companies are understandably focused on what this means for their annual valuation. But the next big threat to your business’s capital may…
April 20th, 2020 On a recent episode of the Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah, special guest Mark Cuban discussed how to revive the economy in the wake of a global pandemic. Cuban relayed some of the advice he’s shared with President Trump as part of his involvement on the coronavirus task force. “The…
With the COVID-19 pandemic casting a cloud of uncertainty and instability over the economy, leading to record numbers of unemployment claims, you may have heard people (including us) saying that ESOP companies are more resilient in the face of adversity. It’s true. Studies have repeatedly shown that ESOP companies: Had 50% fewer layoffs than traditionally…
We hope everyone at your company is ok during this uncertain time. This article highlights two immediate resources your company may qualify for under the CARES Act: the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). #1 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) The online application for EIDLs is open right now and…
As COVID-19 spreads across the country, we know that your health and the health of your fellow employee-owners is your top priority. And we know you are also concerned about the health of your ESOP. Will it be there as a resource for those who need it most in the times ahead? The Menke Group…
March 16th, 2020 Skyline Construction Enterprises, a San Francisco-based, 100% employee-owned commercial general contractor specializing in commercial interiors, has acquired Seattle’s Unimark Construction Group and its tenant services sister company Servicemark. These acquisitions give the Skyline Group a major foothold in the Pacific Northwest—a key component of their nationwide expansion plan, according to the company’s…
The Texas-based Basden Steel group of companies have been providing fabrication and erection operations for the commercial construction industry since 1985. They have built everything from schools to casinos to arenas to military facilities. On January 1, 2020 Basden Steel built a new legacy by turning its 450 employees into owners through the sale of…
March 9th, 2020 SRC Holdings Corp., which is the oldest employee-owned remanufacturer to original equipment manufacturers in North America, was recently awarded the 29th annual Txemi Cantera International Prize in Bilbao, Spain. This award is given to organizations in recognition of their support for their workers and reinforces the values of cooperation, solidarity, participation, and…
Socialism and communism developed as a reaction to the concentration of ownership and the abusive labor practices that developed in the early stages of capitalism. However, after nearly a century of conflict between these two competing economic systems, a century that witnessed two world wars and a protracted cold war, we have seen in the…
March 4th, 2020 In 2010, Bob Moore, founder of the whole grain flours and cereals company Bob’s Red Mill, celebrated his 81st birthday by giving his employees the gift of ownership. Ten years later, the Bob’s Red Mill ESOP is going strong with roughly 600 employee-owners—three times the number they had when the ESOP began—and…
February 12, 2020, ESOP Association member Daniel Goldstein, President and CEO of Folience, testified before the U.S. House Small Business Committee about the need for the Department of Labor to clarify its ESOP regulations given the impending retirements of 2.5 million baby boomer business owners. This mass retirement, known as the silver tsunami, represents the…
February 6th, 2020 In January, Columbus, OH-based GreenScapes Landscape Company became the latest landscaping firm to make the transition to employee ownership. Founded in 1977 by Bill Gerhardt, who intends to stay on as president for at least five more years, Greenscapes began as a traditional landscaping business and has expanded into a full-service landscape…
Written by Jill Odom, this article was originally published at TotalLandscapeCare.com February 4th, 2020 There are a lot of myths and mysteries that surround employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and some of these misconceptions can scare landscape company owners away from considering this business option. Make no mistake, some ESOP structures are complex, but they…
Earlier this month Jimmie Gipson, 78, announced he would be retiring as of March 31st, 2020 from Houchens Industries, where he has worked for 55 years, the last 27 as CEO. Houchens, which began over 100 years ago with a single grocery store in Barren County, KY, has grown to encompass multiple retail grocery chains,…
On January 1st, 2020, Loftness Specialized Equipment, an agricultural equipment manufacturer based in Hector, MN, became 100% employee-owned, and in doing so, reconfirmed its longstanding commitment to the town of Hector and the community who helped make the company what it is today. Dick Loftness started the company that would eventually become Loftness Specialized Equipment…
Pennsylvania’s Andesa Services, which provides integrated, cloud-based solutions for life insurance and annuity carriers and providers, started 2020 by selling 100% control of the company to its 165 employees through an ESOP. “This is one of the most exciting days of my life and I hope you share my excitement,” Andesa founder John Walker said…
January 3rd, 2020 Cross Company, a 100% employee-owned industrial solutions company based out of Greensboro, NC, announced its acquisition of Flow-Tech, a Maryland-based process instrumentation and measurement technology sales and service provider earlier this week. All of Flow-Tech’s employees will be eligible to join Cross’s team of nearly 700 associates in participating in the company’s…
January 17th, 2020 At the end of 2019, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted 130-67 to advance HB 285, a bill that would further incentivize business owners in PA to sell to ESOPs by enabling sellers to avoid hefty taxes on their proceeds at both the state and federal level. “ESOPs serve the dual purpose…
January 13th, 2020 Barrio Brewery, Arizona’s oldest craft brewery, started off 2020 by selling 100% control of the company to its employees through an ESOP. Any of the brewery’s 70 employees who work 1,000 hours or more in a one year period will be automatically enrolled in the plan. For Dennis and Tauna Arnold, who…
Founder and President John Menke to present at the 2020 Kelso Fellowship Workshop January 10-12th at Rutgers University New Brunswick, NJ. He will speak on the Universal Capital Accounts and Citizen Dividend Program. The purpose of the annual workshop is to study broad-based forms of capital ownership and capital income such as employee stock ownership,…
In December 2018, Menke & Associates helped Intervine, a Napa, CA-based wine management company serving the travel industry, with the successful transition to 100% employee ownership. A year later, on the first anniversary of their ESOP, co-founders Colleen May and Michael Borck, who continue to serve as Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board respectively,…
In 1946, Carroll Johnson founded Ringland-Johnson Construction. In 1971, Carroll Johnson handed control of the company to his son, Larry. In 1996, Larry Johnson handed control to his son, Brent. And in 2019, Brent Johnson began the process of handing control of Ringland-Johnson Construction to its employees. Menke & Associates assisted Ringland-Johnson, the largest commercial/industrial…
November 17th, 2019 Dixie Plywood and Lumber Company (DIXIEPLY), a leading wholesale distributor of building materials, is proud to announce it has become 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan(ESOP). The ESOP was announced to DIXIEPLY’s employees on November 1st by Dan Bradley, President of the 75 year old company. The ESOP became effective…